Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1887-10-29

been pleased to accept that gracious gift, and
to pass 1t on to thy comrade in arms and in
adventure, the Lord Bougwan. Surely the
act is worthy of thy greatness, my Lord
Incubu. And now lastly i thank thee also
my Lord Bougwan, who In thy turn hast
deigned to accept me and my poor beauty,
thank thee thousand times, and will add
that thou art a good and honest man, and
put my hand upon my heart and swear that
would that l could say thee yea. And
now that | have rendered thanks TO all in
turn"-and again she smiled-"I will add one
short word
Little can we understand of me, Nyleptha
and my lords, If We know not that for IN
there is no middle path that scoru yourpity
and hate We for it that | cast off your for
giveness as though it were a serpents sting
and that standing here, betrayed, deserted,
insulted and alone, yet triumph over We,
mock We and defy We, one and all and thus |
answer ye,s and then of sudden, before
anybody guessed what she intenxed To 10, she
drove the little silver spear she carried in her
hand into her side with such a strong and
steady aim that the keen point projected
through her back, and she fell prone upon the
pavement.
Nyleptha shrieked, and poor Good almost
tainted at the sight, while the rest of us
rushed toward her But Sorais of the Night
lifted herself upon her hand and for moment
fixed her glorious eyes intently on Curtis
face, as though there were some message in
the glance, then dropped her head and sighed,
and with sob her dark yet splendid spirit
passed.
Well, they gave her royal funeral ane
there was end of her.
1t was month after the last act of the SO.
rails tragedy that there was great ceremony
in the Flower Temple, and Curtis was for
mally declared king consort of Zu- Vendis.
was too i'll to go myself, and, indeed, hate
all that sort of thing; with the crowds and
the trumpet blowing and banner waving; but
Good, who was there lin his full dress uni
form) came back much impressed, and told
me that Nyleptha had looked lovely, and Cur
It's had borne himself in right royal fashion,
and had been received with acclamations that
left no doubt as to his popularity Also he
told me that when the horse Daylight was led
along in the procession, the populace had
shouted Macumazahn, Macumazahn !" till
they were hoarse, and would only be appeased
when he, Good, rose in his chariot and tole
them that was too i'll to be present.
Afterwards, too, Sir Henry, or rather the
vowing that he had never been so bored in
his life, but dare say that that was slight
exaggeration. 1t is not in human nature that
a man should be altogether bored on such an
extraordinary occasion. and, indeed, as |
pointed out to him, it was a marvellous thing
that man who but little more than one short
year before had entered great country as an
unknown wanderer should today be married
to its beautiful and beloved queen, and lifted
amid public rejoicings to its throne, and
even went the length to exhort him in the flu
ture not to be carried away by the pride and
pomp of absolute power, but always to strive
to remember that he was first a Christian
gentleman, and next public servant, called
by Providence to great and almost unpre-
cedented trust. These remarks, which he
might fairly have resented, he was so good as
to receive with patience, and even to thank
me for making them
1t was Immediately after this ceremony
that caused myself to be moved to the house
where am now writing 1t is very pleas
ant country seat, situated about two miles
from the browning City, onto which
it looks. That was five months ago,
during the whole OF which time l
have, being confined to a kind of cough,
employed my leisure in compiling this history
| joint memories 1t is probable that it will
never be read. but it does not much matter
whether it is or not, at any rate, it has served
TO while away many hours of suffering, for
have suffered deal of pain lately. Thank
| God, however, there will not be much more
| of it,
| 1t is a week since / wrote the above, and
now take up my pen for the last time, for
| know that the end is at hand My brain is
still clear and can manage to write, though
| with difficulty. The pain in my lung, which
has been very bad during the last week, has
| suddenly quite left me and been succeeded
by feeling of numbness of which | cannot
| mistake the meaning,
And so this is the end of it-a brief space
of troubling, few restless fevered, anguish
| ed years, and then the arms of that great
angel death. Many times have / been near
to them, many and many a comrade have
they embraced even at my side, and now it
is my turn at last, and it is well. Twenty
four hours more and the world will be gone
from me, and with it all its hopes and all its
fears.
Well, it is not good world-nobody can
say that it is save those who willfully blind
themselves to facts How can world be
good in which money is the moving power
and self interest the guiding stare The Won
der is not that it is so bad, but that there
should be any good left in it.
Still now that my life is over, / am glad
TO have lived, glad to have known the dear
breath of woman's love, and that true friend
ship that can even surpass the love of woman;
glad to have heard the laughter of little
children, to have seen the sun and the moon
and the stars, to have felt the kiss of the salt
sea ON my face and watch the wild game
trek down to the water in the moonlight
But / should not wish to live again
! Everything is changing to me. The dark
ness draws near, and the light departs. And
yet it seems to me that through the darkness
l can already see the shining welcome of
many a long lost face. Harry is there, gad